Grim day for Indonesian bird conservation, as our Ministry of Environment and Forestry decided to remove white-rumped shama (Kittacincla malabarica), straw-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus) and javan-pied starling (Graupica jalla) from new list of protected species (P.20). Just 1 month later, little shrike-thrush (Colluricincla megarhyncha) and sangihe shrike-thrush (Colluricincla sanghirensis), known as critically endangered species endemic to Sangihe island, Sulawesi, come after as new candidates written in the revised regulation (P.92) .

This happens because of pressure from bird keepers who are afraid to loose money. This is obviously a huge step back for law enforcement (P.20). The number of these species has been rising in captivity. According to a survey held by the Indonesian Institute of Life Sciences (LIPI) from 2001-2014 in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan, not even one individual straw-headed bulbul was found in their native habitat. Also, Burungnesia (Indonesian birding recording tool-based application) in 2016-2018 revealed no individuals found in 1.772 birding spots similar to those white-rumped shama use.  Across than 2.638 spot, only 15 individuals were encountered.

As Indonesian, I wish the government would not have intend to sincerely sacrifice wildlife preservation for the sake of social and economic matter. AHMAD ARDIANSYAH